Brief notes on Seizure of Abyssinia during Totalitarianism in Europe

The next victim of the expansionist policy of Mussolini was Abyssinia. Italy was prompted to undertake this action because (1) she needed some territory for the surplus population of Italy; (2) she needed raw material for her industries and markets for her finished products; (3) it was essential to distract the attention of Italian people from their miserable economic conditions; (4) the area was of strategic value to Italy.

It could link the Italian possessions in Somaliland, Eritrea arid South East Africa; (5) a war against Abyssinia could arouse partriotic spirit of the Italians who had suffered a defeat at the hands of Abyssinia in 1896.

Although Mussolini had nourished designs against Abyssinia for a long time, he did not actually undertake this project till he was sure of a military victory. The attitude of League of Nations and other Great Powers towards conquest of Manchuria by Japan, convinced Mussolini that in spite of the principle of collective security, nobody was going to stop him from conquering Abyssinia.

Further due to the economic depression, the statesmen of Europe were pre-occupied with their domes­tic problems. In the international sphere the statesmen were occupied with the problem of Hitler’s rise to power and the pursuit of an aggressive policy by him.

Consequently the Italian troops entered into Abyssinia in October 1935. Immediately the Council of the League of Nations declared that Italy had “resorted to war in disregard of its obligations under Articlc 12 of the Covenant.”

Two days later the League Assembly recommended the appointment of a committee to co-ordinate the work. The Coordinating Committee asked the members of League of Nations to prohibit, all loans or credits to Italy and place an embargo on exports to Italy. But France was not happy about these economic sanctions because she feared that it might plunge the whole of Europe into a war. In the meanwhile the Italian forces continued to penetrate into Abyssinia and ultimately occupied it in May 1936. “

The conquest of Abyssinia, according to Gatliorne Hardy, “marks a critical turning point in post-war history. The triumph of Italian aggression, naked and unashamed, affected the whole world with fundamental conse­quences.

To England it meant the virtual destruction of the institution which successive governments of different parties had proclaimed to the keystone of their foreign policy. The France…it meant that the enemy of whom she stood most in terror was encouraged to fresh audacity and rescued from his previ­ous isolation.

And finally to the Italian transgress or by an act of poetic justice, it was destined to mean the extinction of his influence on the Danube and the arrival of German forces on the Brenner.”

Italy till Second World War. During the inter-war period Mussolini opposed the Union of Austria with Germany, because such a union was likely to put a stop to the Italian influence in Europe In 1931, he opposed the tariff union between Austria and Germany.

In 1934, when the Nazis revolted in Austria and fatally wounded the Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss, Mussolini ordered Italian mobilization to help Austria Thus Austria was saved from German annexation.

In South Eastern Europe, Italy tried to steel a march over France by impressing on the states of the region to form alliances with Italy rather than France. As far as the lesser slates of the region were concerned they were eager to make alliance cither with France or with Italy but they were not at all willing to accept the supremacy of either. Initially Italy was able to outwit France by forming alliances with both, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

France, however, succeeded only to have an alliance with Czechoslovakia. But later on, France was able to increase her influence over the states in the region. Italy made efforts to destroy French political influence by the dissolution of the little Entente and substituting it with a combination directed from Rome.

But once she was unable to have a monopoly of these alliances she encouraged Germany against French plans of reconstruction.

In the matter of disarmament, Italy supported German’s stand of parity between German and French strength. Italy was convinced that it would give the Italian army balance of power on the continent. Italy was right in her assessment. When Germany re-armed herself to the French level, Italy was able to defy Great Britain in the Abyssinian war.

Though Italy was keen to secure German co-operation, Italy’s stand on Austria against Germany made it practically impossible for the two to come close for the time being. Consequently on January 7, 1935, Italy signed a pact with France at Rome.

By this agreement France met the, main demands of Italy in Africa in return for concession by Italy in Central and Eastern Europe. France gave to Italy 44,500 sq. miles of territory bordering on the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and a strip of French Somaliland giving Eritrea an outlet to the Gulf of Aden.

The two parties also undertook to respect their mutual frontiers and abstain from meddling in the internal affairs of each other. Both the parties also agreed to oppose any unilateral revision of the Treaty of Versailles particularly in respect of German re-armament.

But as France participated in the economic sanctions enforced against Italy on account of her intervention in Abyssinia, the friendly relations suffered a setback.

After the rise of Hitler, Italy started improving her relations with Britain also. Realizing that Great Britain was a great naval power of Europe and had influence in the Mediterranean Sea, Italy could not afford to neglect her.

At the Stresa Conference Italy had aligned herself with France and Great Britain. In January 1937, Great Britain and Italy issued a declaration that they had agreed to preserve the status quo in the Mediterranean.

Another agreement was concluded by the two countries in April 1938 by which they regulated a number of issues in the Mediterranean and the Near Eastern area arising out of Italy’s conquest of Abyssinia: While Italy agreed to withdraw a substantial number of her volunteers from Spain, England recognized Italy’s African Empire. In 1939 Chamberlain and Halifax went to Rome to have further negotiations with Italy but the mission did not yield much results.

Mussolini by philosophy and attitude was closer to Germany. It has been rightly said that while the attitude of Italy towards Great Britain and France was one of hesitation and reserve, her advance towards friendship with Germany seemed to be smooth and steady.

In 1937 Italy joined the anti Comintern Pact (concluded by Germany and Japan in 1936) and thus the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis came into existence. Hitler referred to this Axis as “a great world political triangle, which consists not of three powerless image but of free states which are prepared and determined to protect deci­sively their right and vital interests.”

In March, 1938 Hitler occupied Austria. Mussolini had assumed the self-imposed role of protector of Austria in July, 1934 could not do any­thing in view of Italy’s estrangement with the western democracies after the Abyssinian affair.

He on the other hand, made a bad job of the issue by informing Hitler “Austria did not interest him at all”. No doubt, he was able to earn the gratitude of Hitler but .lost his cherished dream of following an independent policy and establishing protectorate over Austria.

In 1939, the supporters of Britain’s policy of appeasement made an­other effort to win over Italy. This effort resulted in an agreement on April 16, 1939, by which both the parties agreed to stop mutually hostile propaganda, status quo in the Mediterranean and some concessions in Lake Tsana for Britain.

Italy also agreed to withdraw volunteers from Spain. But Italy did not comply with any of the terms of the settlement. Though the agreement did not prove of any avail, it certainly enhanced Italy’s prestige, which had sunk so low after Hitler’s annexation of Austria. She could tell Hitler that Italy had no dearth of friends.

Though the Second World War started in September 1939, Italy remained neutral. Her plan was to attack when the Allies were almost exhausted, because that would save Italy from the destruction of war and would entitle her to share in the spoils of the victory. Such an occasion came’ in June 1940, when France was on the verge of collapse. Italy declared war against Britain and France on June 10, 1940. She formally joined the Triple Alliance with Germany and Japan on September 27, 1940. Italy declared war against Soviet Russia in June 1941 and against U.S.A. in December 1941

After 1942, the course of the war began to change and fall of Mussolini and Italy became imminent due to continuous defeats and internal eco­nomic crisis. On July 1943, the Allies attacked Sicily.

The king immediately ordered for the arrest of Mussolini. However, a little later the German army freed Mussolini and put him back into power. But when the Allies attacked North Italy in 1945, Italy unconditionally surrendered to the Allies. This marked the fall of Fascist Italy.